[UC IRVINE-STANFORD 0-1] Playing in its first tournament since 2002, Stanford earned its second straight shutout with a thrilling 1-0 win at UC Irvine on Sunday night thanks to a first-half goal by Daniel Leon.

"This is a great win because UC Irvine has a terrific team this year," said head coach Bret Simon. "They gave us everything we could handle, but we were able to hang on. A lot of our guys played tremendously tonight."

Playing in its first tournament since 2002, the Cardinal have not been overwhelmed, improving to 2-0 with a pair of shutouts in the 2009 version.

Leon's goal came in the 36th minute on a blast from 25 yards from the left side just inside the right post for his third goal of season.

"He could not have hit it any better," said Simon. " It was a perfect shot into the upper 90 and it needed to be, because their goalkeeper was right there.

The backline of Shaun Culver, Hunter Gorskie, Ryan Thomas and Bobby Warshaw continued its tremendous play as the backbone of the Cardinal team that has now given up just 16 goals in 19 games.

The Cardinal will now move on to face No. 1 Akron, who is a perfect 21-0-0 on the season.